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Martha Coakley Admits She Is “Frightened” by Scott Brown Surge

Greg Sargent of The Plum Line is reporting that Martha Coakley, in a private conference call this afternoon with top Democrat donors, said that the surge of Scott Brown to a dead-heat with her for the Senate seat in Massachusetts “frightened” her. Sargent had an opportunity to listen in on the call and was reporting based on what he himself heard the candidate say about her surprisingly tough battle for the seat in true-blue Kennedy country.

Coakley went on to say that the main issues she felt were responsible for Brown’s popularity with voters were terrorism, and unemployment. What a surprise that voters would be concerned about two practical, visible issues with immediate consequences for our country that are also the most obvious and visible failures of President Obama and the Democrats controlling both houses of Congress.

Sargent also reports that during the phone call, Coakley begged listening large donors to “max out” and send the limit of $2400 per donor to fund a last-minute advertising blitz to try to overcome Brown’s growing popularity with voters. She said that she needed $400,000 for additional Television spots, $325,000 for mailings to get out the vote, and $80,000 to fund robocalls.

Scott Brown, meanwhile, raised over $1,000,000 in one day, in small donations from countless people, via an effective word-of-mouth “money-bomb” campaign yesterday. This is allowing him to immediately respond to the last-minute, negative ads Coakley is running.

DNC Chair Tim Kaine reportedly told donors that Democratic leadership in Washington is “cautiously optimistic” about the Massachusetts Senate race, but urged them to give the limit as well. This runs counter to earlier reports that Democrat internal polling shows Coakley ahead by a comfortable double-digit margin. Teagan Goddard, meanwhile, reports that new Democrat internal polling shows Coakley’s lead has shrunk to about 5 points and is dwindling fast. And the new Rasmussen Reports survey taken last night shows Coakley with a razor-think 2 point lead.

Even if Brown loses, it looks like he is going to come close enough to winning to make a lot of Democrats up for election this Fall consider their votes this year very, very carefully.